Commissioner of Police, Rivers State.
Abasifreke Effiong & Substance Nature
Commercial transporters shuttling Akwa Ibom-Rivers-Delta-Bayelsa states have abandoned the Taaba-Bori area of the Ogoni road over spate of armed robbery attacks.
Drivers working for different transport companies in Akwa Ibom State said their cars have been attacked and passengers robbed at gun-point between Taaba and Bori, in Khana local government area, Rivers state.
Some drivers said the armed robbers operate everywhere on the Ogoni road but Taaba-Bori is their hotbed.
“Many of our drivers have been robbed around there (Taaba) near Amaechi farm, but the boys operate everywhere along the road within Rivers state. They will emerge from the bush, rob and go back at different locations.”
Transport companies have stopped their drivers from plying the Ogoni road since mid last year.
Commercial drivers said most of the robbery incidents on the road take place in-between security checkpoints mounted by policemen, but “they (police) are not doing anything”, a driver at Transit Favour Motors, added.
The Port Harcourt-Ogoni-Ikot Abasi section of the East West road has many checkpoints mounted by policemen and other security forces.
There are at least 40 security checkpoints between Khana and Tai local government areas, in some cases the checkpoints are set up less than a kilometre apart.
Independent transporters who operate from government parks said police extort money from them at each of these checkpoints yet the road remains a haven for highway robbers, a situation they said provoked them to change route.
“It was frustrating because police will collect money from us at every checkpoint, next moment you drove pass them, boys armed with guns, machetes and axes will block you and disposes passenger of their belongings. Why should we continue to take that route and keep sorting them (security), then the next minutes you are robbed.
A commercial driver at the Itam long distance park, Uyo, Mr C.Y. Etim, said he avoided the Ogoni road after many robbery attacks, one of it cost him his front wind-shield.
“No commercial driver goes through that Ogoni road since last year because of armed robbers. If you doubt me, go round and check, no transport company goes through that route. My car was attacked, they (armed robbers) broke my windscreen, I was injured and my passengers were robbed.”
“This happened in-between two police checkpoints. The boys just came out from the bush, block the road, stop the vehicles and robbed all the passengers, then run back into the bush sharp-sharp.”
Another driver at the park, Ezekiel Bassey, said his car tyres were shot by armed robbers.
“They tried to block the road with car tyres and logs, so I manoeuvred and passed, next, they used motorcycle and chased my car. When they couldn’t overtake my car, they shot my tyre, I thank God, my tyres are tubeless, so I drove with the bullet till I got to Uyo.”
Bassey added that he stopped plying the route last year after that experience.
All major transport companies plying the route have deserted the Ogoni road.
No company accepted an offer to take the route even on shattered trip.
The Atlantic Observer reported that when reporters visited Akwa Ibom Transport Company, AKTC, South South Trans Lines Limited and Transit Favour and asked if they could take passengers to Gokana local government passing through the Ogoni road. None accepted the offer.
At AKTC, the loader said, “our vehicles don’t pass through the Ogoni road any more. If you want to go to Gokana on charter, we will still take Iwukem-Azumini-Obehia-Aguate, then come back to Gokana.”
“If you insists you want to pass through Ikot Abasi-Ogoni road, then the management will decide and make special arrangement for that.”
When asked what he meant by “special arrangement”, he said “special security arrangement to escort the vehicle.”
Management of other transport companies said the Ogoni road is not safe, hence their vehicles cannot ply the route.
Vehicles from Eket, a town outside Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, are now going through Etinan-Oruk Anam-Iwukem to Abia state, lengthening the travel distance and time.
The drivers said they prefer taking a longer distance which is safer than the Ogoni where security is not guaranteed.
“What’s the point going through Ogoni, paying the police at different checkpoints then get robbed, when I can use the money to top-up my fuel, then drive through Iwukem?”, a bus driver who shuttles Eket- Port Harcourt said.
The Chairman, Nigeria Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Akwa Ibom State, Mr Uwem Inyang, when contacted said the union cannot speak to government on the insecurity on the road because the drivers are not member of NURTW.
“We are not aware of it, no one has reported it to us. Those drivers are independent operators working for private companies, they are not members of our Union so we can’t do anything.
“If they were members of our Union, they would have reported, we would have acted on their report and gotten relevant authorities to act.”
Attempts the Rivers State police command to speak on measures taken to address the spate of insecurity on the road proved abortive. Spokesperson of the command, SP Grace Harris Iringe-Koko, did not respond to information request sent to her via her telephone for two days.
On Tuesday night as of the time of filling this report, the PPRO said she was not “fixed to speak”, saying she is busy with other engagements, promised to speak on a later date by weekend.
Culled from The Atlantic Observer.
